The Role of Coffee in Atrial Fibrillation
Is there anyone with atrial fibrillation who hasn’t been told that coffee and caffeine can cause or trigger atrial fibrillation?
The first step to controlling atrial fibrillation, we’re often told, is to eliminate coffee. Because of this, coffee and caffeine are frequent topics on afib discussion forums.
But there’s interesting information about coffee at the Micronutrient Information Center of the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University.
This fascinating site contains interesting facts, such as that unfiltered coffee can raise total cholesterol and bad cholesterol (LDL) levels. In addition, coffee consumption is associated with decreased risk of Type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and liver disease, and there is no evidence that it increases the risk of cancer. It can increase blood pressure, but most studies found no increased cardiovascular disease risk from moderate consumption.
What was most interesting, though, was the relationship of coffee and cardiac arrhythmias, such as atrial fibrillation. According to the site,
“Clinical trials have not found coffee or caffeine intake equivalent to 5-6 cups/d to increase the frequency or severity of cardiac arrhythmias in healthy people or people with CHD. A large prospective study in the US that followed more than 128,000 people for 7 years found no association between coffee consumption and sudden cardiac death. More recently, two prospective studies in Scandinavia found no association between coffee consumption and the risk of developing atrial fibrillation, a common supraventricular arrhythmia.”
So, according to this, coffee, even 5-6 cups per day, doesn’t play a role in developing atrial fibrillation or increasing the frequency or severity of arrhythmias.
When this topic comes up on a discussion forum, someone will inevitably say that they drink as much coffee they want as long as it’s organic or it’s decaf.
What has been your experience with coffee and afib? Does cutting out coffee or caffeine decrease or eliminate your atrial fibrillation? Or does it make it any difference at all?
How many of us grab some coffee when we’re stressed? Could it be stress, not coffee, that’s the culprit?
[…] does coffee play an important role in AF cases? According to the blog entry that I read: Clinical trials have not found coffee or caffeine intake equivalent to 5-6 cups/d to increase the […]
Despite reducing my intake of caffeine by drinking a mixture of 50% decaf on the post cardioversion advice of my nutritionist, I have never found modest coffee consunption to be an a-fib trigger despite the numerous references to it by many a-fib sufferers.
Hi,
I have stopped all caffeine consumption. That is coffee, tea, and most all chocolate..Caffeime makes the heart raise, so I’m afraid of it…
Nel
Nel,
Just wondering…do you have the same effect with both organic and regular coffee and tea?
Some folks with afib say that it’s the pesticides in the coffee and tea that seem to trigger afib rather than the caffeine. They can have organic coffee just fine, but give them non-organic and it triggers afib.
The same could apply to organic vs. regular chocolate.
Mellanie
Dan,
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Mellanie
Having given up all types of coffees, which was my lifeline, I’m starting to drink teas. I’ve learned how to decaffeinate teas. But, I’m wondering what is the acceptable level of caffeine allowed an A Fib patient? In restaurants it is almost impossible to find caffeine free beverages. How much caffeine is considered safe? Thank you.
I don’t think that I’ve seen that kind of information.
Since some believe that caffeine isn’t the problem, but that the pesticides are, if organic is available, that might be an acceptible solution.
Mellanie
A definate yes on the caffeine triggering atrial fib, at least in my case. But there are a lot of qualifications. When I started getting intermitten Afib either adrenalin or caffeine would increase the possibility of an occurance on a given day.
The mechanism appears (on some people) to be that the caffeine increases the tendacy of the ventricles to pick up, see, or respond to more of the excessive atrial signals presented to it. It is my understanding that it acts the same as any stimulant to the automic nervous system, similar to getting excited, exercising, being fearful, ect.
I am quite sensitive to Caffeine and that is the way it works on me.
But now that I have continuous Afib I actually take say a quarter of a Excedrin in the morning otherwise I will be walking around like a zombie because my blood pressure is so low. That is partly because I continue run regularly and that still decreases my “resting” blood pressure.
Anyway the effect of caffeine was very obvious when I first started getting intermitten Afib.
DC
My lone A-Fib started at age 39. It doesn’t run in my family and I am in great shape. My downfall is I love the herbal stimulants. I used to take lots of Ephedra and caffiene when I was in my 20’s and early 30’s for enrgy and weight loss. I have never smoked and was never a drinker. After doing a lot of research and talking to many cardioligists and EP’s I am convinced my use of the herbs was most likely the cause. I eventually had ablation and am on Flec as a precaution. I monitor my caff intake and keep it under 300mg daily and do not take any other stimulants. I kow there are no studies proving this, but it just makes sense that stress and stimulants should be minimized.
Rich,
I’m glad you’re taking care of yourself.
Best wishes,
Mellanie
Darryl,
With you being so sensitive to caffeine, do you find that’s with both regular coffee and organic? Just curious if it makes a difference for you.
Mellanie
Every time I have more than 2 or 3 servings of caffiene, I have an A-Fib attack. I need to cut back to 1-2
Suggestion to some who are trying to cut back or monitor caffeine. In an effort to monitor my exact intake I bought a bottle of 100mg caffeine tablets. I stopped consuming any caffeine containing drinks and foods. I take 1 100mg tablet 1-2 times a day. The beauty of this is you can monitor your exact amount of caffeine instead of guessing how much caffeine your cups of java have. If you are trying to ween your self off, these tablets can even be broke in half and you can slowly decrease your intake. I was once a 900mg a day person. I have successfuly cut back using this method and I believe I will eventually be off caffeine.
Rich,
That’s an interesting idea for weening yourself off caffeine.
With fingers crossed, I’m reporting that cutting out caffeine has had an immediate positive impact on my symptoms. They’ve practically disappeared in the span of two and a half weeks.
I’ve been trying to listen to my body and to pay attention to my environment in an effort to determine the “cause” for a few years now (even though my doc says that “nobody knows what the cause is”).
With unlimited coffee at work, I’d started to consume a lot of coffee, just out of habit. Just on a lark, I tried switching over to decaf. I’m lucky in that I don’t get physically addicted to substances, and so it was easy to go cold turkey.
The symptoms, which had escalated in recent months, immediately abated, and now I very rarely get a flutter, and haven’t had a sustained event (more than five minutes) at all.
I’m going to hold off refilling my flecainide to see if this theory holds. One thing’s for sure: I’m not suffering from a flecainide deficiency! There has to be one or more causes for this.
John H.
Chicago, IL USA
John,
Congratulations! That’s wonderful that you’ve gotten your afib under control and know how to keep it under control. Keep up the good work.
Mellanie
I am a 21 year old very active and in good shape university student. I am not a caffeine junky but have been known to drink the odd coffee when trying to get an extra couple hours of studying in. 2 weeks ago I got my 1st afib attack and it lasted for about 10 hours then stopped by itself. The attack came while I was hockey and when the doctors asked if I drink excessive amounts of coffee, I responded no, and they said, that wouldn;t have been the reason. But I did have a coffee before my hockey game, and told the doctors that and they seemed to think it would not have been the reason.
The other day I tried to give coffee another go, and although I did not get an afib attack, It did make me feel rather light headed and I could feel my heart beating faster.
I would vote for caffeine being a potential cause of this.
I have had very light episodes of a-fib all of my life. If they were going to occur it would be just before my ‘monthly’. I was told it was an over active vagal nerve and that some light physical activity, say jumping jacks, would take care of it.
I have just recently had an episode that lasted for 24 hours but went a way on its own while I hospitalized. That was when I discovered that what I had was a recognized condition.
I am now on meds which do help. I find my a-fib occurs most often when I am resting or have not gotten enough sleep and am overly tired, or getting ready to fall asleep. If I get up and move about and walk slowly around the house it decreases. If I try to sleep while it is happening it gets worse. I am hypertensive( 130 over 80 with meds) and could lose some weight which I am in the process of doing in the hopes that it will diminish the episodes. I do not have heart disease, stopped smoking three years ago (I was alight smoker) and my arteries a clear.
I have stopped drinking coffee and I did not know that tea also had caffeine so that is finished. It was difficult to give up my daily glass of wine but I have. I am thinking weight loss coupled with all of the above will help. Anyone have any ideas suggestions or can tell me if I am on the right path?
Has anyone else experienced a-fib when they were resting or overly tired?
Vicki,
Some folks that have afib when resting find that they also have sleep apnea, which can trigger afib. Please ask your doctor if that is a possibility with you. Afib and sleep apnea often go hand in hand.
Good luck.
Mellanie
I was diagnosed in May of 2008 with A Fib and I have been on Lisinopril, bisoprolol, and coumadin ever since and I have no symptoms of A Fib regardless of what I eat or drink that contains caffeine. I am a 43 year old white male.
For me, my two most serious A.F. attacks have been as a result of the deadly combination of coffee and stress.
In both cases I’ve had a lot of work piling up and deadlines to hit. As a result I downed a few strong coffees in the belief that they would keep me focused and alert until the job was done.
Since my first attack, I’ve had a coffee now and again, and have also been under stress on occasions, but have not succumbed to an attack.
BUT, a few days ago, I was silly enough to add coffee to stress again, and was hospitalised for a night, while they attempted to regulate my BPMs again.
In the end, as in my previous case, a good, restful sleep seemed to do more good than all the beta-blockers and I.V. drugs.
Just diagnosed with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation with episodes of ventricular standstill ( pacemaker job). Asked consultant cardiologist about coffee- told to stop drinking the stuff. I am a doctor, so have looked at medical literature - there is little to suggest normal quantities of coffee (e.g. 3 cups daily) are a problem.
A study this month from New York shows no cardiac risk from coffee, even in diabetics, and another showed a LOWER risk (J Electrocardiol. 2006 Oct;39(4):421-5. Epub 2006 Aug 21). Before believing advice ask for the published evidence!
I hope this is useful